Chapter 65: Oops !

Phénix's gaze drifted toward the books she had just dropped onto the bed.

Oh? Revisiting the classics, little mouse?

Blanche grabbed the first book from the pile. A small glass plaque slipped free and slid across the blanket, thin as a coin.

Where did you get that?

She told him about her visit to the library.

Strange. That's a debt mark. A sum owed by a sorcerer or mage. When it's red, the debt is active. When it turns white, it's been repaid. Normally, a name is engraved along the edge.

Blanche examined it more closely.

Sure enough, black letters had been etched into the glass.

"Jeremy Nolan... Who's that?"

The most powerful mage of his generation. And incidentally, D's twin brother.

Blanche blinked.

"D has a twin brother?"

Phénix stretched lazily from head to tail, yawned, then closed his eyes without answering. Blanche shrugged. She would find out eventually.

She sat down and opened one of the books on Norse gods directly to the chapter about Fenrir, absentmindedly stroking Phénix as he began to purr. She needed to understand the things that truly concerned her now.

Eventually, the demon fell asleep sprawled across her lap.

She had no idea how long she had been reading before the door burst open.

Eva stormed inside, furious.

"Jesus Christ, Blanche, you're impossible!"

Startled, still half absorbed in her book, Blanche looked up.

"Excuse me?"

"Your phone! Where the hell is your phone?!"

"In my coat," Blanche answered, already returning to her page.

Eva marched over to retrieve it before tossing it at her without warning. The phone struck her lightly against the hip — just enough to wake Phénix from his nap.

The cat instantly lifted his head, ears twitching backward, and fixed the intruder with a glare of almost ceremonial hostility, as though Eva had committed a deeply personal crime.

With wounded dignity, he abandoned the cushion he had been occupying and climbed onto Blanche's lap instead, settling there with the deliberate slowness unique to cats entirely convinced the universe owes them compensation.

Blanche smothered a smile, set her half-open book aside, and absently ran a hand through his dark fur to soothe him. His purring resumed immediately — deep, steady, vibrating against her like the hum of a reassured engine.

Only then did she glance down at the glowing screen.

Still on silent.

She had forgotten to switch it back after her morning visit to the North Tower.

A dozen missed calls.

Messages from Eva. Olivia. Rémi. Arthur.

Even Roberto.

She checked the time and went pale.

"Shit. I missed dinner..."

"Yeah! And not just dinner!" Eva snapped, kicking lightly at Blanche's legs hanging off the bed.

Then she threw a pillow directly into her face before collapsing beside her, sending the other two books rolling across the mattress. Without asking permission, she curled herself against Blanche's side.

"Since when do we have a cat?" Eva suddenly asked, straightening up.

Right.

Phénix stopped purring instantly.

Oh no.

"Your father gave him to me this morning. A hospital release gift or... something like that," Blanche improvised.

The demon lashed his tail in visible offense.

"He seems to really like you... I didn't even know pets were allowed in the dorms."

"They aren't," Blanche confirmed.

Eva blinked, then immediately gave up trying to make sense of it.

Blanche would always remain... Blanche.

The redhead absentmindedly stroked Phénix while his purring filled the room once more. Was he truly bored, or did he simply want to stay close to her? And honestly, did she even have a choice anymore? Phénix was her familiar now, whether she liked it or not.

She trusted him — demon or otherwise.

Unlike Fenrir.

"Does it bother you if he stays?" Blanche asked quietly.

"No, why would it? Though it is kind of surprising. I've never seen you want a pet before."

"I think there are a lot of things I want now," Blanche murmured.

"A boyfriend?" Eva suggested instantly, lurking like a predator. "I know you always said your studies came first, but—"

"Yes," Blanche interrupted.

The moment the word left her mouth, she regretted it.

She should not have said that.

"Wait... what?" Eva stared at her. "Seriously?!"

"Yes."

"Blanche?"

"Yes?"

"Are you actually Blanche? Like... nobody stole your body? No reincarnation? No parasite? No demon? Anything?"

"Haha. Very funny," Blanche muttered dryly.

"What's the first thing I ever said to you?"

"You asked if I'd lend you my hair."

"...No way, I really said that?! Okay, whatever. Point is, it's not like you don't have options between Roberto and Arthur."

"...What?"

"The fact that they're hopelessly into you? Or the fact they literally got punished for trying to enter the girls' dorm?"

Blanche stared at her in complete disbelief.

"Repeat that."

Eva repeated herself with exaggerated irritation.

"It's not that complicated! Haven't you seen the way they look at you? They've practically got stars in their eyes. They are in love with you."

Hahahahaha!

Phénix's laughter echoed through her mind as he rolled onto his back, demanding belly rubs.

"You're joking?!"

Eva rubbed at her tired eyes for a long moment, as though trying to wipe away the remains of the chaotic weekend. Then, naturally, the conversation flowed again.

The two young women talked for hours, slowly rediscovering the familiar closeness that the past few days had pushed aside without ever truly damaging.

Their words mingled with exhausted smiles, comfortable silences, and laughter softened by the lateness of the hour. The outside world seemed impossibly distant, dissolved somewhere beyond the quiet walls of the room.

Together, they tidied the books scattered across the desk, gently closing that brief chapter of disorder. Then night settled around them.

Later, Eva curled against Blanche with almost instinctive ease. She fit herself into Blanche's arms as though she had always belonged there, their bodies naturally following the same curve beneath the blankets, like two spoons seeking the same warmth.

Above them, Phénix rested on the pillow with half-lidded eyes, silent guardian of their regained peace.

Blanche, turned toward the door, wrapped one absentminded but steady arm around Eva. She did not even realize she was doing it. Yet in that unconscious gesture, in the way she offered her own body as a shield against the rest of the world, there was something deeply tender — and almost feral.

Eva must have fallen asleep after her, because Blanche heard her soft voice one final time before drifting into Morpheus's embrace.